Austin, Texas, is a happening place and not just when South by Southwest is on. Last week, for instance, Ashley Stovall and Stephanie Duncan launched what they describe as “a peaceful protest against the mass-produced and machine-made,” with the debut of Her New Tribe, a collection of handcrafted ceramic and brass earrings notable for their brilliant custom colors and surprising lightness. The hard-edge paintings of Ellsworth Kelly (whose Austin chapel opened while the line was in progress) inspired some of the on-trend graphic geometric shapes of the first small-batch, limited-run collection. The palette always comes first at HNT, though, because the brand is built around the way that clay absorbs color.

The work of Ellsworth Kelly inspired Her New Tribe’s debut collection.

The “maker” of the two is Stovall, who studied biology as an undergraduate and was enrolled in a master’s program in ceramics. Working from her lakeside studio, this mother of three handmakes each piece, no two of which are exactly alike. Duncan comes from a fashion background and is in charge of design, creative, and the promotional activities of the brand, which borrows its name from a blog the latter started years ago. “My husband and I had just adopted our second daughter, Sawyer, and the process changed me forever,” she explains. “We were ‘her new tribe,’ and it made me realize people can be put in your life that will change your path forever.”

Loss, too, can force redirection of the best-laid plans, as both women know all too well. “Both of our lives were turned upside down by cancer,” says Duncan, who lost her husband to the disease; Stovall, her mother. Both women were suffering from creative paralysis when Duncan set a firm goal: “to get Ashley to make something.” The truth, she admits, is that “it was easier to come up with ideas to push her than [it was to] address my own lack of direction.” Her New Tribe, a true passion project, is thus a brand built on friendship, resilience, and fashion in pocket-size proportions.

Tired of the treasures in their jewelry boxes, many of them made of resin and composite, the team’s aim was to create “a new statement earring.” Adding interest is HNT’s elevated use of clay; cut into brightly colored modern shapes, it escapes the craft fair vibe. Worn like “a bold lip or nail color” suggests Duncan, these earrings can be “the unexpected surprise” in your wardrobe. And, with prices ranging from $65–$218, a relatively accessible one at that.

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